First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Shares Down 3.3% - Time to Sell?

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) shares dropped 3.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $24.12 and last traded at $24.59. Approximately 28,831 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 365,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on FFBC shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.99. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $25.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $302.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.67% and a return on equity of 10.69%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $771,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,425,121.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,617 shares of the bank's stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 5.2% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,525 shares of the bank's stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 23.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,340 shares of the bank's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 63.9% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the bank's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 48,000 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company's stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.